Here’s Why You Don’t Need to “Get Back on Track” After the Holidays

Some great tips from Food & Nutrition blog!

The holiday season is part of our life! It’s a time to celebrate, a time to spend with friends and family, a time to enjoy, a time to feel good about, and a time to make memories. So placing this dark cloud over it sends the wrong message. I also think the diet industry really overemphasizes holiday weight gain and this sense of the holiday season equating to a “bad track.” So I am hoping to relieve any anxiety over the holiday season in terms of food that you may have. Let the holidays integrate into your life and you can absolutely maintain your healthy lifestyle during it and I would encourage you to do so too!

Here are my tips:

1. Get enough sleep (7 to 8 hours) most days. And if you stay up later than normal hanging out with friends or talking on the porch with your dad then guess what — you are going to have some good memories from that time spent together and the next day you can get that eight hours of sleep. Your body will recover. However, it is harder to recover if day after day after day you are sleep deprived so make this a priority most of the time when you can.
2. Keep exercising! And exercise to celebrate what your body is capable of doing. Exercise to challenge yourself, to feel good, to feel energized, to feel strong, to feel confident, to feel accomplished. Don’t exercise to work off what you ate. There are major differences between these two mindsets.
3. Know that if you have an extra piece of pie then it’s OK. And if you eat more in one sitting than you typically do then that’s OK too — your body will do its thing; it will digest the food and you will get hungry again. So don’t feel guilty and don’t feel anxiety over these choices. Have the pie if you want the pie. And if you don’t, then that’s OK too.
4. If you view the holidays as a time to binge then perhaps reflect on why. My thought is being too restrictive over time will lead to binges. So to prevent this, make sure your lifestyle is balanced, meaning if you want the pie on a non-holiday than that’s OK too.
5. Know that it comes down to what you do most of the time that truly impacts health. Finding an eating pattern that you enjoy and also makes you feel healthy and energized is what is sustainable. I’ve personally found a predominantly plant-based diet makes me feel the best. And bonus — it is good for the environment and our health. So I still include these foods that make me feel good throughout the holiday season.
6. Start now. There is no better time than now to eat well and feel good. Don’t wait until the new year to work on goals you have. Start now. Start where you are. And make it consistent.

Weight Fluctuations? What Gives?

What I hear:

I gained a pound this week! What am I doing wrong?

My weight stayed the same this week! This is not working.

I only lost two pounds this week! I want to quit. 😦

I lost 5 pounds in 10 days – woohoo!

What I say:

What you should do at this point in time… RELAX!!!

You did not gain three pounds of fat overnight – it is impossible, and you did not lose three pounds of fat overnight either.

Body Weight Fluctuations of 1-5 Pounds a Day are Perfectly Normal.

1. Sodium: Think of your body like a pendulum scale. If you eat more salt than usual one day, your body will react by trying to balance the scale by retaining more water. Eat less salt than usual, and you have the opposite affect.

2. Alcohol: This diuretic causes dehydration in the body, which leads to water retention. The water retention is a result of your body wanting to make up for the difference in water levels drinking alcohol has caused.

3. Carbohydrate Intake: The body turns the majority of eaten carbs into glucose for immediate energy. Glucose that is not used for immediate energy, turns to glycogen. Glycogen is stored in the muscle tissue and liver, which is stored with water. Eating a low-carb diet often leads to weight loss as you use up your glycogen stores and the stored water is released. In the long run, fatigue can set in as your quick energy source (carbs) is depleted and not replaced.

4. Strength Training: Lifting weights or doing body weight exercises causes trauma to muscle tissue. This is how the muscle rebuilds itself and makes you stronger. But in order to rebuild the muscle fibers, your muscles retain water to help speed up the process in the cells.

5. Restroom Usage: 1-3 pounds a day of body weight change can be seen by using or not using the restroom. I’m not going to go into detail here, because I think this one is pretty self-explanatory.

6. That Time of Month: Most women are probably familiar with this one already. Experts believe that water is retained when hormones fluctuate, especially about one week prior to your monthly visitor. Once your cycle is over, the water is released.

7. Stress and sleep: High cortisol levels affect water balance in your body by regulating anti-diuretic hormone (ADH). ADH tells your kidneys how much water to hold back and pump back into your body.

PRO tip: Don’t stress about the number on the scale. It does not define you (up or down). Subtle changes are normal and should not affect you emotionally (for help with body image click here).  As you can see from the above, daily weights are mainly fluid shifts within your body. If you’re trying to lose weight, don’t think of it as a quick process (quick means fluid). Think of it as a long term goal where you slowly see progress over many months. You will see ups and downs along the way. This is totally normal as it’s not a linear process. Stay the course because your consistency is what maters most.

Bloating: How to Cope

Bloating is generally the result of not being able to properly digest foods. These not-so-easily-digested foods feel like they’re just sitting around causing discomfort and a general feeling of being stuffed and ‘windy’!

It can happen at any age, but if it seems to be more frequent as you’re getting older it can very well be because of your stomach’s reduced ability to produce enough acid for proper digestion.

Normally, when we eat, cells in our stomach release more acid which is important for so many digestive processes like breaking down foods. As we age this process can become less efficient and the result can feel like it’s wreaking havoc on the rest of the digestive system.

Unfortunately, this can have wide-ranging effects on all of our digestion abilities and can result in bloating.

Bloating Reason #1:

Sometimes our bodies are (or become more as we age) sensitive to the fiber in certain fruits or veggies. This can also occur when we introduce new ones into our diet as it may take a while for our body to get used to them.

Try chewing your vegetables more thoroughly, or lightly cooking or steaming raw ones. If a fruit or veggie seems to be consistently related to bloating try eliminating it for a few weeks and monitor your symptoms.

Bloating Reason #2:

Decreased stomach acid can reduce the activation of a key protein-digesting enzyme “pepsin”. This means that the proteins you eat aren’t broken down as much and they can pass through your system “undigested”.

You may consider reducing the amount of animal-based foods you eat and see if that helps.

Bloating Reason #3:

All this lack of digesting in your stomach and small intestine puts extra stress on the large intestine. The large intestine is the home of all of your wonderful gut microbes that have SO many functions in the body.

Try eating more fermented foods. Fermented foods contain probiotics which will feed the good bacteria and microbes in your system to keep the bad bacteria at bay. This includes things like yogurt, kefir, sauerkraut, kombucha, and kimchi. Make sure they’re unpasteurized and contain live cultures.

Ginger has been found to help with digestion and reduce nausea for certain people. And peppermint is thought to help your digestive muscles keep pushing food through, so it doesn’t stay in one spot for too long.

Consider drinking a digestive tea like peppermint or ginger.

If bloating is a serious problem for you, always consult your doctor for evaluation.

Let’s Keep it Positive

Reality is what is lost on social media.

We emphasize the best versions of ourselves instead of the real versions.

Here are two ways to be less influenced by social media and some tips to follow on how to clean up your social media accounts.

1. Reduce your time on social media.

This can be a challenge since we live in a culture that puts such a high value on social media outlets. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible.

Allow yourself five to ten minutes a day to check your social media accounts and then be done with it. Especially avoid looking at profiles of people who trigger thoughts of comparison. You have nothing to gain in doing so besides anxiety and sadness.

2. Redirect your focus on the things that really matter.

When you direct your attention toward the real world, you have less time and energy to direct toward meaningless activities such as social comparisons.

Focus on a high-energy work out at the gym or finishing a book you’ve been putting off. Immerse yourself in activities that leave you feeling better for having engaged in them.

I love these tips from fellow RDs who are trying to pave the way towards a more positive social media world.

Favorite Food: Legumes

What are they: kidney beans, pinto beans, black beans, black-eyed peas, chickpeas (garbanzo beans), soybeans (edamame), lentils and even green peas.

1. Legumes are high in Fiber

They have insoluble fibre which helps keep our bowels regular. They are also a good source of soluble fibre which can help lower LDL (or “bad”) cholesterol levels.

2. Macros:

Legumes are a good source of carbohydrate as well as protein, which makes them an affordable way to meet protein needs.  They also have a low Glycemic Index (GI), which means they are broken down slowly so you feel fuller for longer and they don’t cause a rapid rise in blood sugar, which makes them particularly good food for preventing and managing diabetes.

3. Micros:

• High in B-vitamins, phosphorous, and zinc
• Good source of folate
• Good source of antioxidants and phytonutrients

How I eat them:

Black-eyed pea salsa – with tortilla chips for a crunchy snack

Slow cooker Minestrone soup – great for a no fuss high veggie meal on a rainy day

Slow cooker Chili – throw it in, forget about it AND have leftovers!

Garbanzo beans on salad – easy peasy

Black bean brownies – you would never know they were in there!

Check out my Pinterest page for these recipes and more!